Valve for fluids or fluidized solids especially for the spouts of bag filling apparatus



Feb. 24, 1959' l N. s. STAFFORD 2,874,925 VALVE FOR FLUIDS OR FLUIDIZED SOLIDS ESPECIALLY FOR THE SPOUTS OF BAG FILLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 17. 1954 2 Sheets-finest 1 INVENTOR NEIL .s. STAFFORD BY A a/M ATTORNEY Feb. 24, 1959 N. s. STAFFORD 7 VALVE FOR FLUIDS OR FLUIDIZED SOLIDS ESPECIALLY FOR THE SPOUTS OF BAG FILLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 17, 1954 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 30 4 K 7 84 88 22 as H 72 6 2- 2 64 64b 92 so as INVENTOR 95 95 93 man. s. STAFFORD BY if ATTORNEY United t Paren 0.

2,874,925 VALVE FOR FLUIDS onrmmjzsn sorrns ESPECIALLY FORtIJEIE SPOUTS E BAG FILLING APPARAT s Neil B. Stalford,.,SanlIose-, 'Galifz, assignoi toFood Ma chinery and Chemical Corporation, San Jose, Galift; a corporation of Delaware Application September 17, 19 54; Serial 456,769

6 Claims. (Cl; 251-61) T pre e t invention relates ta varies for fluids or fluidized solids. tion relates to fluids or fluidized solids. t is an object of the resent invention to provide a valve forfluids or fluidized solid that selectively be operated to block the flow of fluids or flj'u'idiz'ed solida or to permit renewed flow of the fluids or fluidiied solids. Another object is to provide in a conduit, for fluids or u idi zed solids,tiniea ns that normally dh'ot' appre'eiably interfere with t 6 HOW of the flu of fluidiied waited will ptron of the ac"- aj preferred hi h illustrate b'odime'nt thereoiand'whereinr Fig, 1 is a fragm ntary perspective of ab machine that is provided with discharge spout 'em'b'o ing the present invention Pg. 2 is a ra mentary", l6

a; rumor he m ha 5 spout? brute 111118- 1 d in Fig. 1 hewnlguiespeueelesing mechams iiio erative position. g v r '3 is: art e lcvatioh of a; iort'ionf the: discharge showing th'Zspout-closing mecha'r'ii'iri iri effective -F ciiit-diagranisill tr'ati 1 th ilt d n i m cha ism Fig; 1' illustrates a disch invention as applied' to an appa pl derd cit-granular ma erial; sa1

the ty e which employs fluidization p I granular material to facilitate. delinery thereotliritti the bags Such an a p t t y t ilt ik is placed into" a' condition simulating a time b rising cur fears of air injected intotne tank at lbwe oi from a suitable source of c; mpr'e discharge spouts foi Vessels contair'iiiig' 2,874,925 Patented F eb. 24, 1959 2 he rigidly secured to anaunular disk 30 ch isiii'o' uponthe upper end of a substantially eerie-t1 past 32 that forms part of a bag supporting frame 34; Bolted to the frontal face of the annular disl; 30 is the flanged e'nd 36of the terminal portion 38 of the spout structure, which forms the spout proper over which the receiving snout of a bag to be filled is engaged. a V

I Essentially, thebag supporting frame 34 wash the here'ir'ibefore" mentioned post 32 and a saddle Q which is cOmPQSed of twotransyersely spaced pa bars 42a and 42b thatare iivotally supported from lower end of said post, 3. Upon said saddle the bag to be filled is placed durin'gthe filling dbrtiefi while itsfmaterial-receiving' snout is engaged ever the, spent 38 and is retained on' 'said spout by means of a niahuall'y operable clamping mechanism 44 that is' arranged ahoii'e the spout and is supportdfrorn the annular disk 30 The bag supporting frame ,34 is suspended-front one side of a scale which has the form of a U-sliaped stirrup 46 that embraces the post 32. The free ends of said stirrup piyotally support the free ends of two L-shaped arms 48a and 48b that are rigidly secured to, and project laterally from, the post 32 of thebag supporting frame 34, At intermediate points the side bars 50a and 50b: of stirrup 46 possess outwardly turned: ears 52d and 52b, and said ears rest upon knife edges 54 (only one of which is visible in Fig; 1) that are moun ed on two parallel girders 56a and 561) which form part of t he hereinbefore mentipned' pedestal 12 or tank 10. Pmjcting rearwardly from the crossbar 58' of stirrup 46. is a threaded rod 60 upon which is adjustably enga'ged a counterweight 62. x Secured to diametrically o'p' 'aosite ares disposed axially displaced', yet adjacent, cross-sectional lane of tube 22 are flat inflatable bodies 64 and 66 of a resilient material, such as rubber membrane. ,Said bodies have somewhat the shape of hollow tongues, and when deflares they are: bent in a down stream diiect'io'n, i. e., toward the discharge end of the spout structure, and lie flat against the inner surface of the tube wall, so as to obstruct the passage formed by tube 22 to a minimum degree, but Wheninflated they assume a radially iitend ing position Within the tube and are of such lengtlj as tooverlap to some degree. In this matter theybljock the passage formed by tube 22, as illustrated in Figs; sagas l V av ng reference to Fig. 2, the tube withf diamet'ridally bppes'ad arcane slots apsed in axially displaced, ye: adjacent, plane's oi the tube, and through said slots tongues 64 and, protrude into the a teria a the time;

been outer ends of the" tongues and Vide'd with outwardly bent flanges 72 and tiyely, that lie'flat' against the outer surface 22 and which are securely held in position plates I, and 78 that are bolted to the tube close" the i 6' ar re- 14, respe Of the tube by retaining wall. Said retaining plates open outer ends of the hollow bodies .614 an: 66 excep for ntra11 batedair inlet openings 80" and 82, resjaecti ely; which are" surrounded by collars 84 and 86, to which may be clamped air supply cbiiduits 188 and 90., The Walls 64d and 6651 of the tongues 64 and 66, on the downstream side thereof are formed with folds 92 and 94, respectively, in the manner of a bellowswhich tend to shorten said side walls as compared with the walls 64b and 66b on the uiastreani side thereof, an a a resu t the ongues 64 an 66will bend in direction toward the discharge end of the spout Sesame and lie flat against the tube wall when in de: fiated condition, as illustrated in Fig. 2. In thisposition they permit'fiuidizedmaterial from tank 10 to pass readily t r l b 22 an sh. $1. smut. .3 was delivered into a bag that may be engaged over said spout.

During practical operation of the described bag filling machine the tongues 64 and'66 are held in inflated spoutblocking condition until a bag has been engaged over the spout and the clamp 44 has been brought down upon the bag and the spout to securely hold the former over the latter. For this purpose a strong spring 93 within a pneumatic control valve 95 may be arranged to hold the control body 96 of said valve in a position wherein a source of compressed air (not shown) is applied to both conduits 88 and 90 so that both tongues are fully inflated (Fig. 5). However, closure of the clamping mechanism 44 over the snout of a bag on spout 38 may be arranged to close a switch 98 (Figs. 1, 5 and 6) in the power circult of a solenoid 100 which operates upon energization to force the control body 96 of the valve against the urgency of spring.93 into a position wherein the source of air pressure is disconnected from the conduits 88 and 90 and both said conduits are connected to'the outside atmosphere (Fig. 6). As a result thereof, the two tongues within the tube 22 collapse into the position illustrated in Fig. 2, and material may flow freely from the tank to the spout 38 and into the bag on said spout.

' To arrest the'flow of material into the bag as soon as the bag reaches a predetermined weight, the power circuit of control solenoid 100 may also include a normally open switch 102 that is mounted upon the girder 56b (Fig. 1) andis ordinarily held in closed position by a lug 104 secured to the connecting bar 58 of stirrup 46. Whenever the stirrup 46 is in the rearwardly tilted position illustrated in Fig. 1, which is indicative of the fact that the weight of the bag on saddle 40 is below the desired value established by adjustment of the counterweight 62, the lug 104 depresses the operating button 106 of the switch 102 and closes said switch. However, as soon as the weight of the bag reaches the upper limit established by the counterweight 62, and the stirrup 46 tilts forwardly, the lug 104 releases the push button 106 and switch 102 opens and interrupts the power circuit of the solenoid 100 (Fig. 5) Upon de-energization of solenoid 100 the spring 93 returns the control body 96 of the valve 95 to the position illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein the connection between conduits 88'and 90 and the outside atmosphere is blocked, and the source of compressed air is applied to said conduits. As a result the tongues 64 and 66 are projected into their radially extending passage-obstructing positions andthe flow of the material into the bag ceases.

To avoid interference of the tongues 64 and 66 with each other as they are inflatedand move into their radially projecting positions the arrangement should be such that air is first delivered into the tongue 66 on the upstream side and then into the'downstream tongue 64. Accordingly, in its travel from tongue deflating to tongue inflating position the control body 96 of the valve 95 is. arranged to connect the air supply conduit 90 for the upstream tongue 66 to the source of compressed air slightly ahead of the air supply conduit 88 for the downstream tongue 64, as is apparent fromFigs. 5 and 6.

While I have explained my invention with the aid of a particular embodiment thereof, it will be'understood that I do not wish to be limited to the specific constructional details shown and described, which may be departed from without departing from the scope and spirit of my invention. a

When fluidization of granular or powdered materials is referred to in the above given description and in the following claims, this term is intended to mean notonly full fluidization of the said materials, wherein they behave entirely as a liquid, but also all those conditions of lesser aeration which reduce their natural angle of repose and will therefore permit said materials to flow down inclined surfaces that slant at angles less than their natural angle of repose.

I claim: 7,

l. A valve for fluids and fluidized solids comprising a tubular conduit adapted to conduct fluids and fluidized solids, a pair of inflatable bodies of resilient material disposed within said tubular conduit along diametrically opposite and axially displaced arcs of said tubular conduit corrugations formed in one wall of each of said bodies to prestress said wall and cause said bodies to lie close adjacent the inner wall of said conduit when not inflated, and means operable to introduce fluid into both said bodies to inflate them thereby straightening said corrugations and causing the bodies to swing into a transversely erect conduit-blocking position, said bodies being placed so closely together in a direction axially of said conduit as to come into overlapping contact with each other upon inflation.

2. A valve for fluids and fluidized solids comprising a tubular conduit for the fluids and fluidized solids to pass through in a predetermined direction, a pair of inflatable bodies of a resilient material disposed within said conduit along diametrically opposite arcs in axially displaced yet adjacent cross-sectional planes thereof, said bodies having the form of tongues that lie flat against the inner wall of said conduit in a downstream direction when in deflated condition and which rise in radial direction from said inner wall when in inflated condition, and means operable to successively inflate the upstream body and the downstream body in the order named, said bodies each having a length greater than the radius of said conduit so that their ends overlap when they are in their radially extending, inflated condition.

3. 'Avalve for fluids and fluidized solids comprising I a tubular conduit, a pair of inflatable bodies disposed within said conduit along diametrically opposite arcs in axially displaced, yet adjacent, cross-sectional planes thereof, said bodies having the form of tongues with one wall of each tongue being prestressed to cause said tongues to lie flat against the wall of said conduit when in deflated condition and to swing into cooperative contact with each other in transversely erect overlapping positions when inflated to thereby block said conduit, said bodies when in inflated condition each having a length greater than the radius of said conduit so that their ends will assume overlapping positions, and means operable to inflate one of said bodies and subsequently inflate the other of said bodies.

4. A valve for fluids and fluidized solids comprising a tubular conduit for the fluids and fluidized solids to pass through in a predetermined direction, a pair of inflatable bodies of a resilient material disposed within said conduit along opposite arcs in axially displaced yet adjacent cross-sectional planes thereof, said bodies having the form of tongues with one wall of each tongue being prestressed to cause. said tongues to lie flat against the inner wall of said conduit in a downstream direction when in deflated condition and to swing'into cooperative conduit-blocking contact with each other in transversely erect overlapping positions from said inner wall when in inflated condition, said bodies when in inflated condition each having a length greater than. the radius of said conduit so that their ends will assume said overlapping positions, and means operable to inflate the upstream body and the downstream body in succession in the order named. 5. A valve for controlling the flow of fluids or fluidized solids through a tubular conduit comprising a pair of resiliently stressed flexible inflatable bodies fastened to the wall of said conduit, said bodies being in the form of hollow tongues that lie flat against the inner surface of the conduit when in a deflated condition and when inflated swing to a position transverse of the conduit, each tongue having one of its walls prestressed to cause said wall to lie closely adjacent said inner surface when said tongue is deflated, and means for delivering a fluid into said inflatable bodies to inflate them, and elongate said prestressed walls relative to their opposed walls to cause said tongues to move into transversely erect overlapping positions within the conduit, said tongues when inflated each having a length greater than the radius of said conduit so that their ends will assume tions.

6. In a valve for controlling the flow of fluids and fluidized solids through a tubular conduit, a pair of cooperatively associated inflatable valve elements adapted to be disposed within a tubular conduit along axially displaced diametrically opposite arcs of the wall of the conduit, said elements each having one wall prestressed to cause said valve elements to lie against the inner wall of the conduit in the form of generally semi-cylindrical elements when in a deflated condition, and means for inflatsaid overlapping posiing said valve elements to elongate said prestressed wall and cause said elements to swing into cooperative conduit sealing overlapping contact with each other in erect positions transversely of the conduit, said elements when inflated each having a length greater than the radius of said conduit so that their ends will assume said overlapping position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,598,207 Bailey May 27, 1952 2,660,946 Peple Dec. 1, 1953 2,676,609 Pfarrer Apr. 27, 1954 2,692,707 Maxwell Oct. 26, 1954 2,750,959 Von Seggern June 19, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 70,002 Netherlands May 15, 1952 

